Caps Beat Up Bruins

Caps' win about as good as they come

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Erskine isn't on the score sheet, but he certainly rounded out the entertainment for the evening.

Updated at 9:15 AM EST on Friday, Oct 2, 2009

If there were any concerns about the Caps being stale and not taking the regular season seriously, well, those were gone by about the third shift in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins.

The Caps played about as well as a team can play, doing just about everything right. They kept their intensity up throughout the entire game, never letting a pretty decent Bruins team (though likely not as good as last year's version) into the game.

Ovie's going to get most of the headlines for his two-goal performance (as he should -- the guy's on pace for like 164!), but he was far from the only star of the game.

Brooks Laich zipped two of 'em in the net himself. Even better: both shots traveled maybe a combined 5 feet. Laich was a pest in front of the net, harassing old man Tim Thomas. Fancy skating is nice and makes the Caps go, but the more of a presence the Caps get down low, the more space their skaters have to whirl around.

The other star for the Caps might've been the most surprising considering some of the circumstances. Other than a fluky break-away goal just seconds after a Caps' power play ended, Jose Theodore was perfect. He had 19 saves, with many key ones coming in an early flurry by the Bruins.

Laich was proud of him, telling reporters that Theo "was excellent tonight. We are so happy for him. He played so well. In the first 10 minutes, he held us in there and was a key to victory tonight."

Theo's message to Semyon: the job ain't yours yet, kid.

Despite the excellent individual performances, this really was a team effort. All the pieces, more or less, hummed along, working well together. The best evidence of that? The Bruins, who were scrapping mightily to get back into the game, had just three shots in the final period. Three!

And just as important, their penalty kill was perfect.

The Bruins led the Eastern Conference in points last season, and pounding them and the Vezina winner on the road in such a commanding way is a great sign for the season. Let's enjoy the ride!